


Only If For A Night

by ArkStationsLibrary



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-22
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-10 15:51:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4397900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArkStationsLibrary/pseuds/ArkStationsLibrary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To save Kate from an untimely death, Seth Gecko makes a deal with Carlos and the Lords to alter reality. The catch? Kate doesn't know him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> gonnamessupyourmind on tumblr gave me the prompt idea for them to have sex in a bar. Pretty sure the angst wasn't expected but I couldn't help it.  
> Hope you like it. ;)

“See, I told you we would make it,” Scott says as they make their way through the loud, noisy bar.   
Kate wrinkles her nose as she sidesteps what she hopes is someone’s spilled drink. “I don’t know about this.”   
Scott sighs. “C’mon Kate. Have some fun. What’s the worst thing that could happen?”   
She shakes her head. “Daddy could find out we didn’t really come here to build churches and kill us.”   
Scott pats her on the shoulder. “Would you stop being such a goody-goody? Look, Dad’s not going to find out. We planned this perfectly. Meanwhile----“He grins mischievously as he notices a pretty dark haired girl with a drink eyeing him.   
Kate stands in the middle of the bar alone regretting her decision to let her baby brother rope her into this summer vacation. A tall blond guy in the corner winks at her and Kate rolls her eyes before going to find a place to sit.   
The lone bar stool she finds is next to a guy whose nursing a bottle of beer that has flame tattoos up and down his arm. “Pick your poison, Little Lady.”   
Kate glances at him. “What?”   
The man stares at her. “Pick your poison. I’m buying. I don’t drink alone. You sat down with me. So, pick your poison.”   
Kate raises an eyebrow. “Uh….I’ll have a beer, I guess.”   
He nods and calls, “Bartender!”   
The bartender glances over at them. “What’ll it be?”   
“A beer for Kate.”   
The bartender nods. “Sure thing, boss.”   
Kate raises an eyebrow. “Boss?”   
He grins. “I own the place.”   
“Oh well its----uh-----“   
“Shit, I know but it pays the bills so.” He shrugs as he takes another drink. “So Kate, what’s a nice, young girl like you doing in a place like this?”   
She shrugs. “I’m not sure. My brother planned this whole thing. I’m just here to make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble.” She glances over her shoulder to where Scott is currently dancing with the pretty dark haired girl from earlier.   
“That’s your brother?” Seth says skeptically.   
Kate glowers at him for the confused tone in his voice. “He’s adopted but yes. He’s my brother.”   
“Easy there. Just was confused. So what, he gets to have fun and you don’t?”   
She raises an eyebrow. “Why, what are you suggesting?”   
The bartender places her beer in front of her. Seth smirks as he takes a swig of his own drink. “You can’t let him have all of the fun. C’mon. What do you say? How about a dance?”   
Kate blushes as she brushes a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. “I don’t really---“   
He holds out his hand to her. “Come on. What’s the worst thing that could happen?”   
She looks him up and down. The stranger is all muscles and dark hair whose name she doesn’t even know. “I need a name. You know mine. It’s not fair if I don’t know yours.”   
He chuckles. “Seth.”   
Kate holds out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Seth.”   
“Nice to meet you, Kate.” He takes her hand and leads her onto the dancefloor. The music is fast and Kate doesn’t know what she’s doing so she begins by swaying her hips. Seth wraps his hands around them, gripping her ass and making her lean in closer to him.   
She feels his length up against her and blushes. Seth smiles down at her. “Sorry, got a little excited there.”   
“No, it’s okay.”   
“Is it?” Seth asks, giving her a smoldering look that makes her almost melt against him. He presses into her again and she feels him through his pants. She nods and he clutches at her breast as he trails kisses along her neck. Kate runs her hands through his dark hair and he pulls away.   
“Private,” he mutters and pulls her back into the dimly lit lounge area. Kate pulls him to the couch and Seth lets her.   
Kate pulls down her pants as Seth unbuttons his. “You know I don’t think having sex with a stranger in a night club constitutes as keeping my brother out of trouble,” Kate says.   
He pauses. “Well, that’s not really my thing Princess but if you want to get into trouble….”   
She laughs and nods. Seth kisses her again and then Kate can feel his finger inside of her. “Trouble” makes her legs wrap around him, and a shiver of pleasure going up her spine that leaves her gasping his name. “Seth.”   
Kate bites her bottom lip hard and he rubs her clit. “That’s it, baby girl. Cum for me.”   
And she does in a way that makes her forget the world. Because then there is just him, and her, and suddenly he is inside of her. “Fuck, Seth.”   
“That’s it, Kate,” he says as he strokes her like she was an instrument perfectly designed for him to play. He then lifts her shirt and kisses her belly button a little too tenderly for a random encounter with a stranger in a bar.   
Seth kisses her lips then pulls away from her. There’s a sadness in his eyes that wasn’t there before. He stands as he buttons himself up again.   
Kate straightens. “Wait, that’s it?”   
“Yeah, that’s it.”   
“Did I do something wrong?” she asks.   
He shakes his head. “No. I did something wrong a long time ago. But you’re not going to remember that. You’re not going to remember anything about me, Kate.”   
She blinks. “Seth, what are you?”   
He leans forward and kisses her like she’s an old lover instead of a new acquaintance and Kate pulls him to her. She wants him inside of her again. But Seth breaks away, muttering something that sounds like not a bastard and exits the lounge area.   
Richie is waiting for him at the bar when he returns. “You say your goodbyes, brother?”   
Seth sighs. “Yes, and it hurt like a bitch.”   
“You know it’s for the best. It was the only way for her to get her life back. She deserved it after everything we did.”   
Seth slams his fist against the bar. “Don’t tell me what she deserves. I know what she deserves. Why do you think I even made that stupid deal with Carlos in the first place?”   
Richie puts a hand on his shoulder. “I know brother. I know.”   
“She won’t.”   
“And it’s for the best.”   
“Yeah, for the best,” Seth mutters even though it feels like a punch in the gut.   
Kate walks out of the lounge area, confused and hurt. She searches for Seth but for the life of her she can’t even remember his face. She glances at the bar where there’s a man with tattoos of flames over his arms talking to another in glasses who raises his drink to her like he knows her.   
She feels a tugging at her heart like a distant memory trying to pull forward but it’s gone before she can remember.   
Scott taps her on the shoulder. “Hey, where’d you go?”   
Kate shakes her head. “Nowhere. Let’s get out of this place. It’s giving me weird vibes.”   
“Kate, it’s a bar. If you’re not having weird vibes you’re not doing it right.”   
She smiles at her brother and rolls her eyes. “You’re such a dork, Scott.”   
“I’m awesome,” he replies, and the two siblings leave the bar with neither one knowing that they are being watched by the two men.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saying goodbye has consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize Tanner was an archaeology professor but for the sake of the story I went with Occult because its a tad bit au.

Carlos is waiting for him outside of the bar after Kate leaves. “Having second thoughts, Seth?” the culebra asks with a grin. 

Seth glares. “About punching you in the face, maybe Carlito.” 

He shakes his head as he wags his finger. “Ah, ah, ah. We had a deal. You and your brother leave me and the Lords alone and Kate gets to live. No going back on that now.” 

“What about Santanico?” 

Carlos shrugs. “I expect she’ll turn up sooner or later. As for her fate….that is up for me to decide.” 

Seth sighs and glances back at the bar where Richie is still inside nursing a drink. He wonders briefly if his brother knows the whereabouts of the showgirl but decides not to mention that possibility. 

“She’s not going to remember anything right?” Seth asks. 

He nods. “Kate will only know what her heart wants her too.” 

He raises an eyebrow. “What kind of answer is that?” 

He shrugs. “A bullshit one but to be honest, I’ve never understood the mechanics of the mysticism myself. But I paid handsomely for the alterations to Kate’s memory and I expect that it should be a decent enough hold. Though for that to remain true somebody has to hold up their end of the bargain.” 

“Sure, sure. Preacher’s daughter doesn’t need a bastard like me in her life anyhow. No contact, no nothing. I know the rules.” 

“But can you stick to them?” Carlos asks with a grin. Seth feels his hands clenching into fists and it takes everything he has to walk away.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Kate Fuller spends the rest of her summer before college working as a counselor teaching arts and crafts at a sleep away girl’s church camp. Sometimes she thinks the summer is making her clothes tighter but she ignores it. Her days are filled with finger paints and Popsicle stick houses. In the days, she is fine. It’s the nights that worry her.  
One night, as she sleeps in the girl’s cabin, she wakes to the sound of banging on the door. Kate creeps through the cabin of slumbering kids. Her hand instinctively goes to her pockets as if she’s about to grab something from them. The action makes her pause as she thinks that a stake should be there. 

Or somewhere. 

_What the hell?_

“Kate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kate!!!!!!!!!!” she opens the door and finds Kyle standing there, drunk and with her little brother who is also stumbling around laughing as if he’s had a bit too much to drink. 

Kate sighs, crossing her arms. “Seriously? Scott, Kyle? What the hell are you doing?” 

“We’re friends again!” Kyle says, patting him on the shoulder. “We made up and everything.” 

“And I think you two should make up!” Scott adds. “Kiss and make up! C’mon Kate!” 

Kate shakes her head remembering the fight she had with Kyle about her “weird brother” (he hadn’t used such nice words though) months ago before their family vacation to Mexico. “Go home, Kyle. You too Scott.” 

Kyle laughs. “But we’re gonna kiss and make up eventually right? Maybe in the church----“ 

“Maybe you should have waited until church,” Scott suggests. 

She rolls her eyes but suddenly the ground shifts and Kate sees an image of Kyle’s red truck before her, with his body in the back and two puncture wounds in his neck. Puncture wounds from a---- 

“Counselor Kate?” 

The ten year-old girls voice from behind her makes her remember her surroundings. She looks down at the little girl with her dark hair and her green eyes. Kate squints in the darkness as she see’s something that looks like black flames crawling up the little girls arm. 

“Come on, let’s go back to bed Jenny.” Kate takes the little girl by her hand and leads her inside. She’s aware that Scott and Kyle are suddenly gone when she closes the door behind her.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kate Fuller decides to major in occult studies of all things. She doesn’t know why but something about the subject draws her in. “Kate, Dad’s gonna be pissed,” Scott says over the phone when she tells him as she’s headed for her first class. 

“Good. Daddy is just going to have to get used to it. I’m eighteen now. I can make my own choices, Scott.” 

“But why occult? Why not theology?” Scott asks. 

She takes a breath and almost tells him about the dreams that have plagued her all summer. Dreams about him with snake like face and dreams about a never ending temple that she can’t seem to escape from. Instead she just says, “To make Daddy mad. That’s why.” 

Scott chuckles. “You better come home for Thanksgiving so I can watch the show when you tell him.” 

“I make no promises.” 

Kate walks through the class room nearly running into a man wearing a tweed jacket with glasses and messy, blond hair. “Watch it there, little lady. No need to be going so fast. It’s only the first day.” 

She blushes realizing that she almost collided with her teacher. “Professor Tanner. Sorry.” 

“It’s alright, Miss uh---“ 

“Fuller.” 

Professor Tanner nods. “It’s alright, Miss Fuller. Why don’t you have a seat and class will start in just a minute.” 

She takes a seat in the middle so she doesn’t seem like too much of the uppity know-it-all her brother claims she is.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kate gets sick a few weeks into the school semester.

Sick, stay in bed vomiting, making her roommate disgusted sick. When she goes to the Doctor she almost cries when he says, “Let’s do a pregnancy test. Just to be sure.” 

Because all she can think about is that night in Mexico and the guy named Seth whose face she can’t remember.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They are somewhere in Europe when Richie gets the vision. Santanico lays next him with her head resting on his shoulder as she traces his jawline. That’s when he sees it. The tiny fetus in Kate’s stomach. 

And he knows. 

“Seth!” he shouts. 

Santanico raises an eyebrow. “Not the reaction I was expecting, Richard.” 

“No---it’s Seth----got to call Seth. He needs to know.” 

“Know what?” she asks. 

“It’s Kate. Kate’s pregnant.” 

“Oh.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seth Gecko is in a shady ass alley way somewhere in South America about to buy his drug of choice for the week when he gets the call. “Richie, this had better be important,” he all but growls into the phone. 

“Kate’s pregnant.” 

“You son of a---“ 

“Not by me, you idiot.” 

Seth pauses, almost dropping his phone. “Shit.”


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate drops out of school when the visions get to be too much to handle and meets a stranger named Richie.

It’s the visions that get to Kate before the pregnancy does. She sees herself killing Daddy with a stake. She sees Scott with a face like a mutant. Then there is the monster that tries to claim her on a table for sacrifice just before she screams the name, “Seth!” 

There is something about it that she can’t shake. But how the hell can she find a guy she met in a bar while on vacation in Mexico? She can’t even remember his face but she has this thing….this baby… inside of her that is part his. 

Kate drops out of school without telling her parents. 

Because Mama doesn’t need that kind of worry and it will kill Daddy if he finds out. Jacob Fuller raised his family to be God fearing. 

And she had committed a pretty big sin in his eyes. 

The only one who knows is Scott. 

Kate moves into a small apartment using what little she has left from her parent’s college fund in the city and gets a job as a maid at a hotel in town called The Dew Drop Inn. She works from sun up to sun down cleaning the rooms until they shine. 

It’s about a month before she meets any of her neighbors. Coming home from work one night, Kate is scared out of her mind when she hears, “Hey.” 

She looks up to see a tall man with dark hair and a baby face, wearing glasses standing outside the door of the apartment next to hers. “Shit.” 

Kate squints through the darkness. “You get locked out?” 

The guy smiles at her. He’s wearing a suit and something about his cheerful demeanor reminds her of a bible salesman. “Seems like it. It’s my brother’s apartment. He won’t be here for a few hours. Mind if I wait with you?” 

Kate bites her lip. She doesn’t know anything about the stranger before her. He could be a thief. Or he could be a serial killer. But as she stares at him she feels a strange frisson of energy….remembrance…even though that’s impossible. 

“Sure. Come on in.” 

Kate lets him inside her tiny apartment. She turns on the light and gestures to the table. “Sorry it’s not much. I haven’t been here long.” 

The stranger smiles. “That’s alright. I’m sorry ma’am. I don’t think I got your name?” 

He holds out his hand for her to shake. 

She smiles. “I’m Kate.” 

“Richie.” 

“Nice to meet you Richie. So you’re here visiting your brother?” 

Richie nods. “He’s been out of the country for a while but he finally decided it was time to settle down so I thought I’d help him move in.” 

The sound of a cell phone vibrating makes Kate look up. “Hang on just a second.” Richie furrows his brow at the cell phone then heads outside. 

Kate peers out the window to see a dark haired woman standing outside arguing furiously with him. “Richard…he told us not to interfere.” 

“He doesn’t know what he wants,” Richie says. 

“Richard----“ 

The dark haired woman pauses when she notices Kate watching through the window. The couple walks off, still arguing, leaving her confused. She locks the door, hoping that they don’t come back. 

For the first time in weeks though, Kate doesn’t have strange dreams. She sleeps through an entire night.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Seth walks out of the chaos of the Twister to find Kate standing there with blood smeared on her chest. “You want some company?” she asked him in that soft, innocent voice of hers that left him knowing he was going to hell for the answer he’d give. 

If he was any kind of a decent man he would have told her to go the fuck home. But he had just been through hell and someone needed him. 

Someone wanted him. 

So he took her and pulled her down into hell with him. It was the easiest take of his lifetime…..too easy, almost. 

It was three weeks before Kate did her first robbery. 

It was a month before she killed again. 

It had been three months before the culebra’s tried to kill her. 

Still he kept her because Richie was gone and he was a greedy bastard. 

It had been four months before Kate actually spoke her brother’s name. They were at a restaurant somewhere in Puebla. She hadn’t said a word during the whole meal and had only sort of picked at her food. 

Seth sighed. “Okay. What’s wrong, Kate?” 

She looks him dead in the eyes. “I want to save him.” 

“Save who?” 

“Scott.” 

Seth clenches his jaw. “I thought we decided----“ 

“We didn’t decide anything because we never talked about it. Something made the first culebra so there has to be a way to undo it.” 

“What do you propose, huh, Kate? We go have a nice, long chat with Carlos?” 

She leans back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest. “That’s exactly what I think we should do. Seth, we could save Richie.” 

He glowers. “I don’t think Richie wants to be saved. You saw how he was in that place. He thought it was beautiful. He wanted us to stay there.” 

She bites her lip. “They’re our family.”

He leans back in his chair. “Is that what we are, Kate?” He puts a hand on her thigh never minding that they’re in a public place. In fact, that only encourages him as he inches it further up her leg making Kate bite down on her lip. 

Kate's wearing a skirt because it’s hotter then sin out making it that much easier for him to get to what he wants. “Seth. We have to talk about this.” 

He jerks away. “I don’t have anything left, Kate. I don’t have anyone. You’re it. We go after those culebra bastards the first thing they’ll take is you.” 

“I can take care of myself, Seth.” 

There’s a long pause because they both know that’s not what he’s worried about. She reaches up and places a hand on his neck, tracing his tattoo with her fingers and he grips her hand tightly. “We’ll probably die, Kate.” 

She raises an eyebrow. “Does that mean you’ll help me?” 

He hangs his head knowing he’s going to regret these words later, “Yeah.”


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie finds out something concerning about Kate's kid.

_One Year Ago_   
Richie hadn’t seen or heard from his brother in months when he hears the old, familiar whistle as he walks down a dark, deserted street in Mexico City. Santanico has left to meet up with some old “acquaintances” or at least that’s what she tells him. Not that he believes her half the time. But he expects his lovers absence is one of the only reasons Seth is anywhere near him now. 

If it really is his brother whistling for him… 

Richie pauses in the street and whistles back. A pen rolls down the street and he bends to pick it up. The Dew Drop Inn is written on its side. He squints, confused, and then----   
“Come on out, Kate. I won’t bite. At least not unless you ask me too.” 

Kate Fuller walks towards him looking a lot different than the last time he saw the hostage. There’s a harder look to her and she walks with a confidence that she didn’t have before. “Fancy meeting you here, Richie.” 

Richie strolls towards her. “Where’s my brother?” 

She glances behind her to where two headlights shine in the distance. “He wouldn’t get out.” 

The younger of the Gecko brothers scowls. “It figures. Still holding a grudge?” 

Kate sighs. “Something like that. We came because we want to talk to Santanico. We think she might have information we need.” 

He tilts his head to the side. “What kind of information?” 

“Information on how to unmake a culebra.” 

He takes a breath. “Is this about your brother?” 

She nods. “I know you’re comfortable with this life, Richie, but Scott didn’t deserve this. He’s my family. I’ve got to save him if I can and you…you owe me.” 

Richie pulls a cigarette from his pocket, lights it, and takes a drag. “You might be right about that but what makes you think that I’m going to help you?” 

She crosses her arms over her chest. “Because if I can unmake Scott as a culebra maybe I can do the same for her. She’s been a monster for centuries. I know if I’d been a creature that long I might wonder what it was like to be human again after all that time.” 

“There’s only one way to do it that I’ve heard of, Kate Fuller.” 

The voice takes both of them by surprise. Santanico emerges from the darkness with bloodstained lips that she licks clean. “You wouldn’t be keeping secrets from me now, would you Richard?” 

Richie walks towards her and places a kiss on her lips. “Never. Just considering offers. What do you think, San? You want to be human again?” 

Santanico shrugs. “It’s of no consequence to me. But I do believe I owe the girl one after all of the trouble we put her through and as it so happens her interests align with mine.” 

Kate raises an eyebrow. “Why?” 

“I am looking to destroy the Lords that made me what I am. Kill the Lords, their power over their servants dies. The Twister isn’t the only temple they have control over and I am not the only girl whose life they’ve ruined. The Lords blood has certain magical properties if a human consumes it…healing and the like…I have witnessed its power before. But it takes all of their blood to make it work. In theory, the blood of the Lords could save your brother though I am not certain the effects that it would have on a culebra.” 

The young girl raises an eyebrow. “How do I know you’re not lying?” 

“Do you want to know why I wanted to escape the Twister, Kate?” 

“Freedom?” she guesses. 

Santanico shakes her head. “It used to be about that. But after centuries, I don’t have anyone. So it doesn’t matter if I’m in a cage or not. The only thing that matters is revenge. You want to destroy the Lords, Kate Fuller? I can do that. In fact, I’ll be the first to help you in any way I can.” 

Kate glances back at the car that is still idling. Richie can see the outline of his brother’s shadow in the driver’s seat. Part of him wants to pull him out of the car and beat the shit out of him but he thinks better of it. 

“What’ll it be, Kate?” Richie asks, taking a drag of his cigarette again before tossing it out on the ground and stomping it with his foot. 

She looks back at them. “We kill them, I get their blood?” 

Santanico nods. “They’ll expect me coming. They won’t expect you.” 

“Who do I kill first? How do I kill them? Where do I kill them?” 

“The first temple can be found in Chiapas, nearly eleven hours from here. It is preceded over by a man named Lord Tez. But you must be careful. They say he is made of smoke and that which cannot be touched will not be easy to kill.” 

Kate glances at Richie and he stiffens as the preacher’s daughter eyes him up and down. “You betray us, Richie, _no_ , you betray _him_ ….I’ll kill you. I’ll kill the both of you.” She walks over to Santanico and hands her a piece of paper with a cell phone number written on it. “Keep in touch.” 

The young woman begins to head back to the car. 

“Kate?” Richie calls after her. 

She looks over her shoulder directly at him. He opens his mouth to speak and he says, “I’m sorry I couldn’t set you free.” 

She says nothing as she walks away back to the car. Seth drives away so fast you might think that they’re being chased. Richie just stands next to Santanico, watching them go until the car can no longer be heard.   
_**Present Day**_

Richie takes to staying in the apartment next to Kate's. He knows Seth will be there soon. It will just take time. Santanico comes and goes with supplies. She never stays for long. Sitting still has never been her thing. He can hear Kate's every movement through the walls. He senses the child moving in her stomach. It’s healthy. It’s safe. Kate is too. 

Or at least that’s what he thinks. Until one day he hears her talking to someone with a voice that sends chills down his spine. 

_Sex Machine._

Richie bolts up from the couch where he’s been sitting and heads outside. He sees Aiden Tanner leaning casually against the doorway as if he’s asking for a cup of sugar to borrow. 

“That’s very nice of you to check up on me, Professor Tanner, but you didn’t have to do that,” he hears Kate say. 

He walks up behind him. “Hey Kate. Just dropping by to visit my brother. Who’s this?” 

Professor Tanner freezes upon hearing his voice and Richie can’t help but grin as the man slowly turns to look over his shoulder, his face pale. 

“Oh. Hi Richie,” she says, “This is my Occult Studies Professor. He just wanted to know why I wasn’t coming to class.” 

“Her roommate said that she got sick, then left,” Tanner says, “I just thought it was odd. That’s all. I’m very good at what I do. I like to make sure my students are safe.” 

“I’m not sick, Professor Tanner,” Kate corrects, “I’m pregnant. I….I couldn’t stay because I didn’t want my parents to find out.” 

The Professor says, “Have you tried calling them lately? I think you might find they might be a bit---“ 

“I think Kate’s looking a bit sick,” says Richie, “you should be going, Professor. Why don’t I walk you to your car?” 

Kate raises an eyebrow. “Richie that’s nice of you but I’m fine.” 

“You’re pregnant, Kate. You should rest. I’ll show Professor Tanner the way. Don’t worry.” Richie grips Tanners shoulder and leads him away from the apartment. 

_“What the hell are you doing here, asshole?”_ he demands.

Tanner laughs. “I could ask you the same thing. Or have you forgotten the rules of your arrangement with Carlos and the Lords?” 

“The only reason they helped us at all was because they wanted to save their asses. They got what they wanted. Leave Kate out of this.” 

“Oh, it’s not Kate the Lords will be interested in. But that baby of hers though…..” 

“What’s the baby have to do with anything?” 

Professor Tanner grins. “You know that light Kate used to have? Before you and her brother destroyed it? Her kids going to have that Light. A powerful resource the Lords could use. So don’t you worry about your Katie-cakes. She’s not of any use to us anymore. But that little baby? Oh, it’s going to do things that even your crazy son of a bitch mind wouldn’t dream of.” 

Richie clenches his jaw. “Get the hell out of here before I kill you.” 

Tanner morphs into his culebra face, looking fierce. “Do that and your little re-set that you and your brother arranged with the Lords falls apart. You are tempting fate as it is with these little visits, Richard. Be careful your brother doesn’t come back and make you remember. Be seeing you.” 

The Professor walks off whistling down the stairs of the apartment building leaving Richie standing there with his hands shaking. 

He grabs his cell phone and dials his brother’s number. “Seth, you better get your ass here.” 

“I already told you Richie, if I see Kate it will ruin everything. Or did you already forget we already caused one apocalypse trying to be heroes the first time? Stop trying to save people, Richard. We’re just going to get them killed.” 

“The Lords want your kid, Seth. They’re gonna use it for something….something awful.” 

There’s a long pause. “Keep watch. I’ll get there.”


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seth reunites with Kate but things don't go as planned.

Seth Gecko comes to the conclusion that Fate likes to shit on him. He’s not prepared to see Kate. Not a Kate that doesn’t know him anyway. Not a Kate pregnant with his kid. But when he stops at The Dew Drop Inn on the way to see her, Fate kicks him in the balls. 

He wakes up in his hotel room to the sound of her voice. At first he thinks that he is hallucinating. But he could be in the middle of a screaming crowd and still find her if she called his name. “Housekeeping.” He shouldn’t open the door. 

He should tell her to fuck off. 

But before he can stop himself he is up out of bed, half dressed, and answering the door. _“Kate.”_

She stares up at him with wide eyes. For a second, Seth thinks that she remembers. He waits for the world to start pulling apart at the seams but then…. 

“I know you,” she says, “how do I…..” 

She pales and steps back. “No.” 

“Mexico,” he says, his voice just a whisper. What he would really like to say is I was wrong. I was all wrong. Because he rewrote their history just so he could save her from the mess that their lives had become. Because he is a selfish bastard who didn’t let her make her own choices because he couldn’t have her die on his watch even if it meant saving her brother. He wants to tell her to come back to him, to fuck her on the bed until they are no longer Seth or Kate but Seth and Kate, Kate and Seth. One living thing with two of everything. 

Kate crosses her arms over her stomach. He assumes by accident but he can’t help but stare. At three months, she is just barely showing. She steps back. “It’s not what you think. I have a boyfriend.” 

Seth steps back, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, really, Princess?” He calls her the nickname out of habit and bites his lip. 

She raises an eyebrow. “Yeah.” 

“Did you have this boyfriend when you met me in Mexico? Because you didn’t say anything about him then.” 

“I….well….” 

He shakes his head. “You can tell me the truth. Is it mine?” 

Kate unfolds her arms. “Yes. But how are you here? Why are you here? I thought that I’d never see you again.” 

“I could say the same thing. How’d you know it was me?” 

She gestures to his arms and Seth tenses. He tries not to think about how she used to trail kisses down them. He wants desperately to forget the feeling of her touch as she traced her fingers over the ink. “The tattoo,” she says, “it’s a little hard to forget. What are you doing here anyway?” 

“I’m on my way to see my brother Richie,” he answers. 

Kate steps back. “What. That’s. No.” 

“What?” 

“You’re my neighbor. How can you be my neighbor? You planned this. You’re some kind of----“ 

Seth steps back. “Whoa, whoa. Hang on sweetheart. You think I’m some sort of freak that planned this? In what universe does that even make sense?” 

She sighs. “I suppose you’re right.” 

She stands there staring up at him. Seth is silently screaming. He flexes his hands, trying hard not touch her. 

“Look. I’m sorry. This is weird. Maybe it was just fate. God works in mysterious ways and all that shit.” 

Kate half smiles. “I guess stranger things have happened. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overreact but nothing makes sense anymore. I keep on having strange dreams and nothing has felt right since this happened.” 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” 

_Shit, I love you. I’m sorry._

“It isn’t your fault.” 

“But I got you into this mess didn’t I?” He gestures to her slightly pregnant belly. “Pregnancy doesn’t just magically happen, Kate. Despite what the bible says. Let me help you. Whatever you need.” 

She shrugs. “I don’t even know your last name.” 

“Seth. Seth Gecko, father of your child.” He holds out his hand and Kate hesitantly shakes it. Seth wants to let it rest on his chest but he lets it go. 

“Kate Fuller, mother of your child.” 

He stares at her for way too long. “When does your shift end?” 

“Five O’ Clock,” she answers. 

“I’ll take you home.” 

Kate smiles. “Thanks. Um….did you want….” She gestures to the room. He thinks about carrying her to the bed then and there but realizes she’s talking about cleaning the place. 

“Oh…uh….no. I’m good. I’m good.” It’s a lie because he is dying on the inside. 

The woman he loves is in front of him and he cannot love her the way that he wants to. Theirs is a love like thunderstorms, like lightening, like Hades taking Persephone just because he could. They lived like vagabonds for a year together. They stole. They lied. They killed. They fixed each other’s wounds. _And god, oh god, she was his and he was hers in every sense of the word._

“I’ll come back later,” Kate promises, “and I’ll knock twice before entry.” 

He squints at her. “Twice before entry?” 

It’s their thing. A code from days when she remembered. Never knock once. Always knock twice so they know they’re not trouble. 

She smiles. “Yeah. Everyone does that.” 

“Yeah. Everyone.” 

Except they didn’t. And Fate shit on him again. Because Kate remembers. Some part of her heart, her soul, knows what happened before. If she does remember….no when…he won’t deny her. Because he can’t. Even if it means the world around them collapses on itself. 

She is his. 

And he is hers. 

Until it all falls down.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott begins to remember things from the reality Seth altered, and Seth tries to win Kate over again by cooking dinner but things go slightly awry.   
> *Hoping this all makes sense but Kate accidentally started the apocalypse when she tried to go after the Lords to get their blood to save Scott. After she nearly dies in the process, Seth made a deal with Carlos and the Lords that he would leave them alone if they brought Kate back. The only way to do that was to lock them in the twisters labyrinth which is essentially the underworld.   
> *More about past events will be explained in later chapters

Scott is the first to remember. He wakes up in the middle of the night in his old house. It’s quiet. Too quiet. He can’t hear the sound of his parents breathing as they sleep or even the creaking of the house. And that’s because there is no house. It is cold, and damp. He is in his room. This he knows from the comic book posters on the wall and the shelf full of action figures. 

But there is something off. Namely, the smell of blood that fills his nostrils. He gets up out of bed and nearly screams when he notices the dead animal carcass in front of him that has been ripped to shreds. The room disappears until it is nothing more than a dark tunnel. 

He remembers everything. He remembers Carlos training him and the plan to get Santanico back. He remembers the destruction of the first pyramid caused by his sister, the plague, and the demons that he escaped after. Then of course he remembers Kate dying and the deal Seth made. 

Scott reaches out to touch a wall of the tunnel. There’s water dripping from somewhere. He knows he’s there because of Seth. He isn’t sure why. 

He heads back down the tunnel to where his “room” is and the tunnel fades. He is back in the house. Kate. He needs to call Kate. 

He grabs his cell phone and dials his sister’s number. “Kate, its Scott.” 

Kate is laughing at something in the background. “Hey Scott. I’m so glad you called. You’ll never believe what happened.” 

“We started the apocalypse.” 

His sister pauses. “What? No, you weirdo. You need a social life. No. Um….remember the guy from Mexico?” 

He pauses. That’s right. Seth knocked up his sister. The bastard knocked up his sister, took their memories, and did who knows what else. “What about him?” 

“He’s my neighbor,” Kate explains, “I remembered his tattoo, Scott. He remembered me too. We’re out um---“she pauses. “Seth, that is not what that’s for.” 

“But you’ve got to admit it would make a good one.” 

“It’s a breast pump. It’s not for guzzling beer.” 

“Okay, okay. I’ll put it back.” 

There’s a sigh before Kate says, “I blame you for Mexico, Scott.” 

Scott frowns. “Sorry about that. Can I talk to him?” 

“Scott, I’m eighteen years-old. I don’t need my little brother picking my battles for me.” 

“Someone has to make sure the guy isn’t a psycho,” Scott says, “and you did have a one night stand with a stranger in a foreign country. You might not be the best judge of character.” 

Kate chuckles. “Alright, I guess. Just be nice.” 

She hands the phone to Seth. “Hello, Little Fuller,” says the conman into the phone, “what can I do you for?” 

“You need to get away from her, for a start. Remember what Carlos said.” 

Seth pauses. “She’s pregnant, Scott. I’m not gonna leave her. I may be a bastard but I’m not a fucking bastard, okay? Besides, there’s a lot more to this then you know.” The last part is said in a whisper. 

“I know, Seth. I remember the tunnel and the deal you made. But you keep on pulling strings and this fragile reality you built for yourself is only going to stay up for so long. We’re trapped in a labyrinth. There’s only so long something like this can stay up before it begins to mess with your head.” 

“You were there. You remember what happened. What was I supposed to do, Scott?” 

He sighs irritably. “You do what you want Seth. But it’s going to be a lot harder watching Kate die angry at you the second time then if she’d died when she loved you. I’m just saying. You better hope like hell she doesn’t remember anything.” 

“Carlos made sure of everything.” 

“Yeah, but its Carlos. And that’s coming from me.” 

He hangs up the phone and goes to check on his parents down the hall. They are there, sleeping this time. He almost wants to wake them up. But some small part of him is afraid they’ll disappear if he touches them. So he crawls back to bed and hopes in the morning, he’ll wake with no memory of geckos or pyramids.   
The place Richie got for Seth is tiny but then so is Kates. Everything looks like it was bought from pier one during a back to school event but Seth doesn’t care. He does, however, notice the fridge is filled with a ridiculous amount of Horchata. 

“Really, Richard?” Seth says as he closes the door, disgusted. “How much of that shit can you have?” 

Richie smiles. “Never enough, brother. What are you looking for anyway?” 

“Kate’s coming over. I was going to cook her dinner. But I can’t very well do that when our fridge looks like it’s been taken over by a taco stands drink fountain.” 

“There’s food in there too.” 

“Where?” 

“Open it again,” Richie insists.   
He opens the fridge again this time to find it full of things that he can actually cook. Seth raises an eyebrow. “What the hell?” 

“Labyrinth,” his brother explains, “one of the perks of being locked in a fictional reality. It is what you make of it.” 

Seth sighs. “I guess that’s something.” 

Richie stands up from where he’s been sitting on the couch watching old cartoons. “So, what did Little Fuller have to say?” 

He rummages through the fridge, pulling out the stuff to make tamales and tosses them angrily on the counter. “Little shit remembers.” 

“Damn.” 

“Yeah. That’s what I thought. He’s not happy about me being around Kate, either. But he wasn’t in the other universe so you know? But he left his sister to join those fr---“he pauses, and corrects himself, “assholes so whose he to judge?” 

“Careful, Seth. I might have to be offended or something.” 

“Sorry, brother.” He takes out a knife and starts cutting vegetables. “I did everything for her. Maybe it was a dick move, but I couldn’t let Kate be the one who started the apocalypse. Getting Carlos to trap us in here…that was only way I could fix everything. The Lords got to live and---“ 

“Kate did too?” Richie says. 

He pauses, then takes a drink of the beer that’s appeared randomly. “Yeah. Kate did too.” 

“Is it really life, though, Seth? You might not want to admit it but you two loved each other.’ 

“We were toxic, Richie. I kidnapped her! I’m the reason the preacher bit the axe. I’m the reason her brother turned into a goddamned succubus. At least this way she got to live a better life then she would have with me.” 

“Then why’d you have sex with her? Because you had to have known there was a chance that this could have happened. Basic sex ed, brother.” 

He clenches his jaw. “I couldn’t have her not remember me, alright? Even if I was just some stranger in a bar I wanted her to know me.” 

“You’re a sucker, brother.” 

“Says the man who let his girlfriend eat him.” 

Richie winks. “We share in that job, actually.” 

Seth blanches. “Gross. You staying for dinner or heading out?” 

“San and I’ve got to hunt. We’re not trapped in a labyrinth, remember? We made our own deal with the lords.” 

“Because you’re backstabbing fucks. That poor girl forgiven you yet?” 

Richie scowls. “I didn’t have a choice but to give her to Malvado. They needed an innocent’s blood to keep the pyramids working for the Lords. Santanico’s been trapped for centuries. What kind of man would I be if I put her back in the cage?” 

“An honorable one, if you’d saved Paloma.” 

“I lost any honor I might have had somewhere back with that bank teller, Seth.” There’s a knock on the door. The two men glance at the window to see Kate wearing a pink dress looking remarkably young and fresh faced compared to the angry girl they’d known.   
Seth takes a deep breath. 

Richie laughs. “Got your balls on, brother?” 

“Shut up, Richard. Get out of here.” 

“Gladly.” 

Richie gets up from the couch and opens the door. Kate smiles up at him. “Hey, Richie.” 

“Hey Kate. You look nice. Don’t keep him out too late, alright? He’s got school in the morning.” 

Seth crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t mind him, little lady. He was just leaving.” 

Kate laughs. “See you later, Richie.” 

“Have a nice night, Kate.” Richie leaves and Seth walks over to her. 

“You have to ignore him. He was raised in a barn.” 

“Wouldn’t that mean you were too?” 

He smiles. “I suppose you’re right. You look great.” 

“Thanks.” 

He steps aside and lets her in. Kate takes a second to look around the place. 

“You uh, you want something to drink?” he asks. 

“Waters fine.” 

“Not a beer?” he quips. She glances down at her stomach and he blushes. “Right, right. Sorry. I just…water.” He gets her drink and Kate takes it from him as she goes to sit on one of the bar stools by the counter. 

“What are we having?” she asks. 

“Tamales, they’re your---“he pauses. He’s almost slipped again. She doesn’t know him. She doesn’t know him like that anyway. He’s not supposed to know her favorite food or that she takes six sugars in her coffee because she thinks it’s gross. He’s not supposed to know about the scar on her hip from a culebra fight. He’s not supposed to know that she prays when she’s scared or nervous or that she talks in her sleep. 

But he does know and _its fucking killing him._

“Seth?” 

He blinks. “Sorry. I forgot what I was saying. They’re my favorite. Just thought you’d like them too.” 

“I do,” she says. 

_I know,_ he thinks. 

He stares at her and remembers when they’d stop on long car rides at gas stations with a slew of processed shit no one should ever touch let alone eat. They’d make a picnic out of it by the water or by the mountains. And in the end, when everything was finished, they would ultimately make love on the top of their car. 

Kate gets a strange look on her face and covers her mouth with her hand. “You alright?” he asks, wondering if maybe---- 

She gets up quickly from her stool and makes a run to the bathroom. 

“Kate? Kate?!” Seth calls as he follows her. 

He finds her hunched over the toilet, puking. Kate looks up and wipes a bit of vomit from her mouth. “Sorry. You had everything prepared and I was trying to be a good sport about it but everything smells so strong and so bad and I just----“ 

Seth smiles and bends down to the floor so that he’s right next to her. “Anything you could stomach right now?” 

“Fries,” she answers truthfully.

“You okay to get up?” He asks, holding out his hand. 

“Think I’m going to stay here. The floors comfy and I feel another wave.” He makes a face as Kate vomits into the toilet again. 

“I’ll be back. Just sit tight.” 

The night doesn’t go as planned. They end up spending the night on the couch watching an old Jimmy Stewart western. Kate falls asleep with her head on his shoulder and her hand grasped tightly around his. He watches her the entire night afraid that if he closes his eyes he might wake to find that this whole thing is in his head.


	7. Chapter Seven

The labyrinth plays tricks on Seth’s mind. Sometimes, she’s there. Sometimes they are in the apartment and everything is fine and happy. Other times he calls her name but he hears his voice echo off of cavern walls. Sometimes he feels eyes on them even when there is no one. He thinks he hears screams. But Kate will call his name and everything will be fine again. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Fuller?” 

It’s not Kate calling him this time. This time, it’s the nurse. The phone rings in the doctor’s office and Seth is aware of Kate squeezing his hand. “You ready?” she asks. 

He blinks. “Yeah, yeah sure.” They head over from their chairs to the nurse together. “She’s actually just Kate Fuller, though. We’re not married.” 

The nurse blushes. “Ooops. Sorry. My mistake. Follow me. The doctor will see you now.” 

They are taken to a room and the nurse tests Kate’s vitals then has her sit on the bed. “The doctor will be in shortly.” She leaves, and Kate smiles up at him. 

“You okay?” she asks with a tilt of her head. 

He nods as he grips the sides of his chair. “Just peachy, Little Lady. We’re gonna find out about Little Gecko. All’s good.” 

Kate wrinkles her nose. “Little Gecko? Please tell me that’s not a nickname.” 

“I’m afraid Richie already had a onesie printed up,” he says with a smirk. 

“Where is your brother anyway?” Kate asks. “He comes and goes at very weird hours.” 

“International businessman,” Seth fibs, and his stomach clenches. He still hasn’t told her about his criminal past much less the culebra’s. All she knows is that he owns a bar in Mexico which is yet another lie. It was easy to tell her he’d killed men and stolen shit back when he’d been pissed out of his mind and anxious as hell at the Twister. It was another when she was about to have his kid and didn’t know anything about him except who his brother was. 

And explaining Richie was another big mindfuck he wasn’t ready for either. 

The door opens, and the doctor enters. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Gecko.” Seth narrows his eyes as there is something about the dark haired man and his overly confident attitude that he can’t place but he _knows._

“Fuller,” corrects Kate, “I’m Kate Fuller. We’re not married.” 

The doctor smiles politely at her. “Of course. Sorry for the mistake. But you do make such a lovely couple.” 

Kate glances at him. “Well, I wouldn’t, I mean we haven’t really----“ 

Seth clears his throat. “We’re just here to find out if the littlest Gecko is going to be a girl Gecko or a boy Gecko, doc. Let’s just do that huh?” 

Kate nods. “Yeah. That sounds good.” 

The doctor talks to Kate but Seth doesn’t listen. He is too busy thinking about her touch because aside from holding hands, they haven’t done anything. He knows that his kissing her neck makes her giggle and that he can make her whine with just one finger in her insides. He knows what it’s like to have his cock buried inside of her cunt and he clenches his hands into fists just as he can feel himself getting hard. 

“Alright Mr. Gecko, I’ll be starting the ultra sound now if you wish to support her.” The doctor looks at him expectantly. 

Seth clears his throat, slowly gets up, and walks over to where Kate waits. He grabs hold of her hand. “You ready?” 

She nods, then smiles at the doctor. “Okay. Let’s go.” The doctor lifts up Kate’s shirt and begins the ultra sound. Seth stares at the screen waiting for something, anything. That’s when the screen begins to flicker. There is no baby on the screen. Instead there is a distorted face that lunges at him, screaming. Seth jumps backwards. 

“Congratulations! It’s a boy.” 

Seth blinks. “It’s a boy?” 

Kate frowns. “Is that okay?” 

He smiles as he holds her hand. “It’s all okay. It’s really okay.” He glances back up at the screen. There is no distorted face. There’s no flickering. No screaming. 

“You sure?” There’s hesitancy in her voice. 

He swallows. “I’m sure.” 

The two of them leave together. As they’re headed out the door, Seth gets a good look at the doctor for the first time. He stiffens as he grips Kate’s hand tighter. He knows that face because he’s stared straight at it and begged for Kate’s life. You never forget the face of a man you’ve begged to. 

Tez. 

Lord Fucking Tez. 

Lord Tez’s face replaces that of the charming doctors. He has a scar that goes through his eyebrow down his eye. His hair is silver, and he no longer wears the doctor’s coat but one that appears to be made of human flesh. 

“Have a good day, Mr. Gecko,” the man says as they leave the office. 

“You said you’d leave us alone,” Seth hisses. 

Tez smiles. “And you said you’d leave her alone.” 

“Seth?” Kate’s voice brings him back. It always brings him back. They leave the office together, unscathed.   
_Several Months Ago_  
The pyramid that is home to Lord Tez isn’t in the middle of the desert like the Twister. Instead, it is on an island known only to those that can find it. Santanico and Richie meet them at the shoreline with what happens to be the world’s ricketiest motor boat. “The guard at the back entrance is named Julio. Tell him Gloria says hello,” Santanico says. 

“Gloria?” Kate asks. 

She nods. “He’ll know what it means.” 

“I’m coming with, brother,” Richie informs them making the two exchange looks. 

“What’s that, Richard?” he says. 

Richie grins. “You heard me Seth.” 

The other Gecko raises a hand. “Richard, that’s not happening. Not a chance, alright? You and your little Snake Queen----“ 

Santanico glares. 

Seth clears his throat. “I mean that in the most complimentary way.” Both girls roll their eyes but Seth keeps on, saying, “You and your little Snake Queen are not wanted or needed.” 

Richie shoves his hands deeper into his pockets. “You think the Twister was bad Seth? Imagine a Twister with four levels. One each more terrifying then the next.” 

Seth snorts. “I’ve already embraced the fact that I am a twisted, piece of shit. There’s nothing that’s going to get to me.” 

His brother nods towards Kate. “Really, what about Katie-cakes here? You think she’s ever tasted darkness?” 

He chuckles. “She’s tasted me.” 

Kate clears her throat. “Would you shut up? You don’t get to talk about me as if I am not here. I’ve tasted darkness, Richie. I killed my own Daddy because of what you did to me. Because of what you both _did to me.”_ She shoves him and Santanico catches his arm just in time to keep him from falling. 

Richie hisses at her. 

“Richard. Kate.” Seth’s voice cuts through the air more like an overly concerned parent managing two children. 

Richie adjusts his glasses and Kate crosses her arms, not looking at the other Gecko brother. Seth stares hard between them. Some silent part of himself wonders if the tension crackling now is less about Kate hating his brother and more about the one kiss they shared. Santanico had stolen the show before anything could happen again. Seth had always thought that saving her life trumped stolen kisses in the darkness but then…. 

Then it was Richie, and Kate had tried to save his soul. 

And Richie had stomped on her hope by not wanting to be saved. That's a hard thing to forget, failing to save someone. 

Santanico kisses Richie on the neck and his brother gets a glazed over look in his eyes. “Richard, they made it through a labyrinth once. They can make it again.” 

Richie pulls away and stares at the ground. “Kate’s a pure soul. The Labyrinth will eat her for breakfast.”   
The young girl sneers at him. “Thought you took that when you kidnapped my family.” 

“Seth, brother, this is a bad idea. You know this is a bad idea.” Richie Gecko is not a man of many emotions. Desperation is rarely one of them he has. But Seth knows that the struggle in his voice is very real, and the glances he keeps on shooting Kate are the most pleading he has ever seen in his life. “Let me come. I can help you.” 

He puts his hand on Kate’s waste and pulls her to him. Kate leans against his frame as he holds on tightly to his side. Seth glances from Richie to Santanico. “You made your bed a long time ago, brother. But don’t expect the both of us to get fucked over by you in it. Kate wants to save Scott. That’s what we’re going to do, and the less liars around the better.” 

Richie steps forward. “You don’t know our ways. You’ll get slaughtered before you even step through the door.” 

Seth walks towards him and pats him on the shoulder. “Ye of little faith, brother. I can survive anything if I’m trying to save my own skin and what I want.” A cold look passes between the two as Richie slips his glasses back up his nose with his index finger. The waves lap against the shore and Kate clears her throat. 

“You coming? Or are you both too busy with your pissin’ match?” Kate asks. 

The eldest of the two Geckos laughs then follows the girl. 

“Good luck!” Santanico calls though her words aren’t comforting. 

Seth drives the motorboat to the island. Its engine roars. He glances back to the shoreline the entire time watching as the two culebra’s become tiny, smudged outlines in the distance. The pyramid is still a bar with abandoned boats on the shoreline, and Seth notes, six heads on spikes. Outside, men and women on horseback ride horses kick what appears to be some kind of dead, tropical bird.   
A man wearing a blue green suit that almost looks like fish scales shouts while thrusting, his hips proactively, “Come one! Come all! Under the sea to see all the many types of cs!”

“Welcome to paradise,” Seth mutters, clutching Kate’s hand. 

 

Kate grips his and shoulders her backpack with the other. They make their way through jungle undergrowth, ducking and crawling under branches. “You still sure about this? You’ve never been one for rescue missions. I can do this alone, Seth.” 

He takes a breath. “Told you I’d get you out of this without any bumps or scrapes, didn’t I?” 

She smiles. “I suppose you did.” 

The back of the pyramid is in a large clearing. A man with a hoop in his nose and the tattoo of a shark on his arm stands in front of it. His face is blank. 

Kate coughs. “Well, this should be easy.” 

“Oh yeah, very,” he drawls. 

They walk slowly forward until they are faced to face with the guard who is built like a machine. “Are you Julio?” Kate asks.   
He only stares straight ahead. 

She bites her lip. “Gloria says hello.” 

The guard peers down at her. He steps away from the door and it creaks open allowing them both inside. 

The pyramid is cool as if they are underwater. Inside, the house band plays slow jazz and the dancers are scantily clad in outfits of green, and blue, and grey like the ocean. A young woman croons half naked in a blue swim suit as a dark, green snake, with not one but three heads, coils itself around her. From the ceiling, dancers twist and twirl on swings and ropes of silvery fabric. The guests all appear to be in some sort of haze, walking around in beach wear like they’re an advertisement for a cruise ship. 

Seth scratches his head. “Well, that’s what I was expecting….and not expecting.” 

“It’s different….calmer,” Kate notes. 

“That’s exactly it. Too fucking calm if you ask me.” 

In the center of the room a man holds court. Kate grips her backpack tightly. 

Seth puts a hand on her shoulder. “We can still go back.” 

She shakes her head. “No. It’s now or never. This is for Scott. I’ve got to.” 

They walk forward into the club. With each step, Seth feels as though dread has washed over him. If he’s going to go to hell anyway, he might as well do it for her.   
_present day_   
When Seth gets home, he drops Kate off at her place and Richie is there waiting for him. “So what’s Little Gecko going to be?” his brother asks from the dining room table where he’s been playing solitaire by himself. 

“Boy,” Seth says with a grin from where he sits across from him. 

Richard pats him on the shoulder. “Congratulations, brother.” 

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s just peachy. Except that Tez knows, Richie.” 

Richie stiffens. “How the hell did that bastard find out?” 

“He’s been obsessed with Kate since we were in that goddamned place. It’s why he made the rules the way they are. Richie….you still care about her, right?” 

He scowls. “Brother, I know what you’re getting at and leaving is not the answer. You’ve got to fight this thing. She’s going to have your kid. It’s you she needs. It’s you she wants.” 

“You sure about that? She doesn’t even know me. Not the real me and how can I be a Dad to her goddamned kid when I’ve done nothing but lie to her? The point of this whole thing was that she was supposed to live, to be safe, be happy and I couldn’t even get that fucking right.” 

Richie squints. “Kate loves you, you know that don’t you brother?” 

“We never really discussed it.” 

He sighs. “Not enough to let go of her anger.” 

“It was never about anger. It was about her brother. She was just trying to do the same thing for Scott that you were always trying to do for me. The thing is, Seth, Scott and I never needed to be saved. We were always here. We were always fine. It was the two of you that couldn’t come to terms with who we were. The culebra’s always been in me, been in him. It was just Santanico that showed me the light. Just like it was Carlos that showed Scott. The culebra’s have this thing that souls have different flavors. Santanico and I, we taste the same so we crave the same things. Santanicos soul is just like mine. We were always going to want each other just the way Scott was always going to want Carlos.” 

Seth scratches his chin. “You telling me that Little Fuller and Carlito---“ 

Richie begins to put his deck of cards back in their pack. “Well, you didn’t think Carlos helped you out of the goodness of his heart did you? He hasn’t got much of one left.” 

He taps his fingers on the table. “Suppose it makes sense. Tez was about to kill him when this whole thing went down….Carlos suggested locking us in the labyrinth to keep us alive as punishment. It stopped our time line and put a kibosh on the whole apocalypse thing.” 

His brother stands. “You just better hope Carlos has a stronger will power then you. The cracks are already starting to appear from what you said. You don’t really want Little Gecko growing up in a cave do you? This only works if the past is forgotten and time can’t move. Keep her happy. Keep her unaware.” 

“What am I going to tell Kate then, Richie? She’s going to ask one of these days and I can’t lie to her. I owe her so much more than a half ass truth.” 

“So don’t half ass it then. Just maybe leave the part out about starting the end of the world and snake vampires.” 

“Yeah, because mentioning the unsavory past as a thief that pulled thirty-six jobs is going to go over real well.” 

Richie pats his shoulder. “Brother, its Kate. She’d forgive the Devil himself if he asked nicely. I had a gun pointed at her and she thought a little prayer could heal me.” 

Seth frowns. “You sure you still don’t----“ 

He rolls his eyes. “I never craved the light. You, on the other hand, you always did like things bright and shiny. Keep that light close, Seth. You’re going to need it if you’re going to survive this place.” He heads to the door. “I’ve got to go. Santanico’s working on something.” 

“Working on what?” 

He smirks, and slips through the door leaving Seth watching after him as he shakes his head.


End file.
